A rather common place assembly procedure is the connecting of one fluid conduit to another for any of a variety of reasons. The connections are, of course, intended to assure that the fluid being contained within the conduit will not leak from the joint.
All manner of couplings, joints, etc. having widely varying characteristics have been devised for use in these assembly procedures. The specific characteristics of any given joint depend in a large part on the nature of the fluid being contained within the conduit as well as the intended pressure thereof.
In some instances, the manufacture of a relatively simple product may require the formation of a large number of fluid tight joints. For example, in the manufacture of some types of heat exchangers, a series of straight tubes impale plate fins. The tubes frequently are connected to convey a heat exchange fluid through the tubes in a serial arrangement and in such a case, U-shaped tubes are located on opposite ends of the heat exchanger core formed by the tubes and the plate fins and are joined to two adjacent tubes to direct fluid emerging from one into the other.
These joints must be provided at each end of each tube in the heat exchanger for a total of two joints per tube. In the usual case, the heat exchanger will include at least 30 tubes (and in some instances, in excess of 100) so there are a large number of joints involved. And, of course, each joint represents a potential leakage site.
Heretofore, the joints have been soldered, brazed, or welded after the conduits were physically assembled together to provide a leak-free joint. Given the large number of joints involved in a typical heat exchanger of this sort, it can be seen that the soldering, brazing, or welding process materially adds to the cost of assembly of the heat exchanger.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the above problems.